List of Tunisia national football team managers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The position of Tunisia national football team manager was created in 1956, 39 men have held the position since its creation and the first was Rachid Turki.[1] Yugoslav Milan Kristić was the first foreign coach to supervise Tunisia, between 1960 and 1961, when he led the team to qualify for its first international tournament, the 1960 Summer Olympics.[2] Seven coaches have held the position on an interim basis: Faouzi Benzarti (one match during the 1994 African Cup of Nations), Sami Trabelsi (six matches in 2011, until his appointment on a full-time basis),[3] Ruud Krol (two matches in 2013),[4] Nizar Khanfir (one match in 2014),[5] Maher Kanzari (two matches in 2018),[6] Montasser Louhichi (four matches in 2024) and Kais Yaâkoubi (two matches in 2024).[7][8]
French coach Roger Lemerre remains the longest-serving coach in Tunisia's history, having overseen the team from 25 September 2002 to 30 June 2008, over a period of 72 matches. He is also the most successful coach, having led the team to won its first Africa Cup of Nations title in 2004. He also led the team during the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During his coaching career, Faouzi Benzarti has coached the Tunisian national team four times in 12 matches. The first was as an interim coach during the second match of the 1994 African Cup of Nations against Zaire, the second during the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the third during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, and the last during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.
In 2024, a coaching dispute occurred in the team, as three coaches took turns in charge of the team after the dismissal of Jalel Kadri on 24 January. Montasser Louhichi was appointed temporarily on 26 January for two friendly matches in June and the third and fourth matchdays of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification,[9] and then Faouzi Benzarti was appointed on 1 July, the fourth time he had taken over the task in his career,[10] leading the team in four matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification after two wins, a draw and a defeat, he resigned from his position and was replaced by his assistant Kais Yaâkoubi temporarily on 5 November,[11] leading the team during the fifth and sixth days of the Afcon qualifiers, where he led the team to qualify after a win and a defeat.[12]
The Tunisia manager's role means he has sole responsibility for all on-the-field elements of the Tunisian team. Among other activities, this includes selecting the national team squad, the starting team, captain, tactics, substitutes and penalty-takers. The coach has a relative freedom to choose his staff as some of coaches refused to coach the Tunisian national team due to the Tunisian Football Federation’s refusal to appoint foreign assistant coaches. This was the case with Jacques Santini in 2008 and Raymond Domenech. However, the Tunisian Football Federation agreed to Henryk Kasperczak's proposal in 2015 to appoint Frenchman Patrick Hesse to the team.
